“Where do you bottle—is that the right word?”Scott asked.“Your manufacturing premises.Where is that?”
“I planned to do a limited run and operate the process myself.I produced the samples, and the idea was to restrict the supply since I only have a few hives.”
“Does this Michael know the hives’ location?”Liam asked.
“No, although he asks me all the time.It has become an inside joke between us.”A sick sensation swirled through Niall’s belly, leaving him no longer hungry.He tried to wash away the horrid taste with a swallow of coffee.“After the break-in at the research premises, I brought everything back here.Michael doesn’t have access.”
“What about the samples?”Suzie asked.
“All tightly controlled and already consumed.It was a side project for me, and Michael had less input than usual.”
“Apart from the results,” Angus said.“He helped you collate those and wasn’t that when your problems started?You had issues in the factory, minor things you handled and didn’t think much of.In retrospect, the small issues have become significant.”
“Yes,” Niall said, agreeing.Accepting the brutal betrayal was hard despite its obviousness.
“We know who and how, but how can we prove it?”Suzie asked.
“Give him enough rope to hang himself,” Angus said with a predatory grin.“We set him up and take him down.”
Liam bit off a piece of toast, chewed, and swallowed it.“I like the way you think.Can we set it up for the weekend?That gives us two days.”
Niall wanted this over, but they couldn’t hurry and scare Michael off.“You’re right.Although I am inclined to confront him, catching him in the act would be more satisfying.”
“Are we positive this assistant is your culprit?”Liam asked.
“We’ll set a honey trap,” Angus announced.“To part innocent from guilty.”
20
Message From Home
Suziegiggledwhilepreparingfor bed.“A honey trap?”
Niall paused, unbuttoning his shirt, his face impassive, but Suzie was starting to understand this somber bear.A glint shone in his eyes, and she knew he understood the joke and was pretending otherwise.
His brows quirked.“What else would you call it?”
“Angus lightening the mood,” she said, still grinning.“He’s usually serious and stern.I was a little scared of him when we first arrived.”
“He takes pride in his job.He doesn’t need to work but does it because he says the contact with the shifters keeps him young.”
“Angus is scary efficient.”
“I’ll tell you a secret,” Niall said, his fingers at his belt buckle now.
“What?”Suzie’s gaze followed his hand with interest.The intimacy was new but right for her.Now that she’d met Niall and her plans had changed, she understood Edwina’s actions.When a mate came along, one’s choices changed.The goalposts shifted with different priorities.
“Angus scared me at first, too.”
Suzie laughed and reached for a sleep T-shirt before hesitating.Dressing was a wasted effort.Niall always slept naked, and she wanted to feel skin against skin.
“Where have your thoughts gone?”
“I was thinking about sleep and nakedness and deciding not to bother dressing for bed.”
“Great minds think alike.”Niall slid out of his black trousers and underwear.He winked at her before dropping his clothing over the back of an upright chair and padding across the thick woolen carpet to the king-size bed.
Suzie watched his tight butt and barely withheld her sigh of appreciation.He was a huge man with defined muscles.It was no hardship to watch him flex that sexy physique.It was almost as good as touching.
